❓ Mr. Rundle questions the Minister for Water about the lack of government attendance at a Water Users Coalition forum in Manjimup. The Minister responds by detailing communication issues and highlighting previous consultations, while also questioning the motives of a key stakeholder.
AnsweredQoN 657Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER USERS COALITION
FORUM — MANJIMUP
657. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Water:
I also acknowledge the contribution
that John Henchy made to many things agricultural in Western Australia. He was
a great man.
I refer to the community water forum held by the Western Australian
Water Users Coalition in Manjimup yesterday afternoon. I note that invitations
were sent to 42 Labor members of Parliament, with six weeks' notice,
including to the minister, as well as the Department of Water and Environmental
Regulation and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
(1) Why did the minister fail to
attend this important community forum?
(2) Where was the member for Warren–Blackwood,
who is the chair of the Warren Donnelly Water Advisory Committee?
(3) How does the
minister explain the absence of even one single government member or
departmental representative?
FORUM — MANJIMUP
657. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Water:
I also acknowledge the contribution
that John Henchy made to many things agricultural in Western Australia. He was
a great man.
I refer to the community water forum held by the Western Australian
Water Users Coalition in Manjimup yesterday afternoon. I note that invitations
were sent to 42 Labor members of Parliament, with six weeks' notice,
including to the minister, as well as the Department of Water and Environmental
Regulation and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
(1) Why did the minister fail to
attend this important community forum?
(2) Where was the member for Warren–Blackwood,
who is the chair of the Warren Donnelly Water Advisory Committee?
(3) How does the
minister explain the absence of even one single government member or
departmental representative?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) I
am very pleased to be able to address this issue because I cannot overstate
this government's commitment to consulting and working with that local
community —
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Ms S.F. McGURK : — in
understanding how we can deal with the challenges that water security presents
to the broader Warren–Blackwood catchment area, including Manjimup and
the surrounding district. Of course, that is all the more the case now that we
have seen the impacts of climate change. Over the years, we have seen the trend
of declining rainfall and particularly unreliable rainfall and water from
natural sources. There is no doubt that there are
challenges. It is true that I was invited by Mr Bevan Eatts to attend the
forum. Unfortunately, I was not consulted about the date. I was just
given a date and asked whether I could attend. I reiterated in my response to
him that I would consult the local community. I plan on holding a public forum
and he and other stakeholders will be invited to it; I just was not able to
make that particular date. I cannot speak for other members, but when a stakeholder
wants a minister to attend a forum, the usual way of going about securing a minister
to attend that forum is to try to work with the office to make a time. If he
had done that, we would have arrived at a date, but he did not do that.
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
You will not get a supplementary if you continue to interject.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Mr Eatts did
not do that. He simply gave us a date and I was not able to make that date. I communicated
with him about that.
I wonder whether Mr Eatts is trying
to increase his profile in the lead-up to preselection because he was able to
get some coverage about the forum in Farm Weekly just last week. He said
in the article that he was disappointed that we were not attending but he also
said that he was disappointed with the new guidelines for spring exemptions and what that would mean to any changes that we
will make to water legislation. Currently, a ''spring'' is
technically defined. People with a spring
water source on their land do not have to seek a licence to use that water.
There is a very narrow and strict definition of those springs. That is what is
referred to as the ''spring exemptions''. Mr Bevan Eatts told Farm Weekly that the guidelines about these changes were released by the
government in June, but that there had not been any industry consultation in
formulating the exemptions policy. I was a bit surprised to hear him say that
because, in fact, there had been extensive consultation about the spring
exemption guidelines and he and his organisation
had attended a series of consultations. I am not quite sure what Mr Eatts is
on, but he might want to pace himself with whatever he is consuming down there,
because he has actually attended a number of the consultations.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Ms S.F. McGURK : I will
quickly outline the consultations that have occurred. A draft spring exemption
guideline was subject to a five-month consultation period from December 2021 to
May 2022 and field testing was conducted with the Warren Donnelly Water
Advisory Committee. The final exempted guidelines were publicly released in
April this year. During the consultation period, the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation received 73 submissions, 50 phone calls and over 2 000
hits on the consultation website. In May 2022, the department posted a series
of online forums with the Manjimup Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Warren
Catchments Council, the Manjimup Water Security Group and Mr Eatts'
organisation, the Western Australian Water Users Coalition. Mr Eatts is the
president of the Manjimup Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is also the
chairman of the WA Water Users Coalition. I understand
that Mr Eatts attended both of the online briefings. For him to then say
that there was no consultation is a little curious. I am sorry that he feels
that he was not consulted, but he clearly was, and there was extensive
consultation. This is about the spring exemptions that I referred to, and the
guidelines have now been released.
I reiterate that I am prepared to
go down to the community. The member for Warren–Blackwood has invited
me to go there and I have committed to her
that I will go. We have talked about the water bill previously in the chamber .
It is a very complex piece of drafting because it brings together six pieces of
existing legislation, some of which are over a hundred years old.
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
Ms
S.F. McGURK : At least two ministers on the member for Roe's
side of the chamber committed to that legislation but were not able to
deliver on it.
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : It is
actually quite difficult to answer the question when you yell at me, member.
We have consulted that community, we
will continue to consult with that community, and I hope to do so again in the
future.
am very pleased to be able to address this issue because I cannot overstate
this government's commitment to consulting and working with that local
community —
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Ms S.F. McGURK : — in
understanding how we can deal with the challenges that water security presents
to the broader Warren–Blackwood catchment area, including Manjimup and
the surrounding district. Of course, that is all the more the case now that we
have seen the impacts of climate change. Over the years, we have seen the trend
of declining rainfall and particularly unreliable rainfall and water from
natural sources. There is no doubt that there are
challenges. It is true that I was invited by Mr Bevan Eatts to attend the
forum. Unfortunately, I was not consulted about the date. I was just
given a date and asked whether I could attend. I reiterated in my response to
him that I would consult the local community. I plan on holding a public forum
and he and other stakeholders will be invited to it; I just was not able to
make that particular date. I cannot speak for other members, but when a stakeholder
wants a minister to attend a forum, the usual way of going about securing a minister
to attend that forum is to try to work with the office to make a time. If he
had done that, we would have arrived at a date, but he did not do that.
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
You will not get a supplementary if you continue to interject.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Mr Eatts did
not do that. He simply gave us a date and I was not able to make that date. I communicated
with him about that.
I wonder whether Mr Eatts is trying
to increase his profile in the lead-up to preselection because he was able to
get some coverage about the forum in Farm Weekly just last week. He said
in the article that he was disappointed that we were not attending but he also
said that he was disappointed with the new guidelines for spring exemptions and what that would mean to any changes that we
will make to water legislation. Currently, a ''spring'' is
technically defined. People with a spring
water source on their land do not have to seek a licence to use that water.
There is a very narrow and strict definition of those springs. That is what is
referred to as the ''spring exemptions''. Mr Bevan Eatts told Farm Weekly that the guidelines about these changes were released by the
government in June, but that there had not been any industry consultation in
formulating the exemptions policy. I was a bit surprised to hear him say that
because, in fact, there had been extensive consultation about the spring
exemption guidelines and he and his organisation
had attended a series of consultations. I am not quite sure what Mr Eatts is
on, but he might want to pace himself with whatever he is consuming down there,
because he has actually attended a number of the consultations.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Ms S.F. McGURK : I will
quickly outline the consultations that have occurred. A draft spring exemption
guideline was subject to a five-month consultation period from December 2021 to
May 2022 and field testing was conducted with the Warren Donnelly Water
Advisory Committee. The final exempted guidelines were publicly released in
April this year. During the consultation period, the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation received 73 submissions, 50 phone calls and over 2 000
hits on the consultation website. In May 2022, the department posted a series
of online forums with the Manjimup Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Warren
Catchments Council, the Manjimup Water Security Group and Mr Eatts'
organisation, the Western Australian Water Users Coalition. Mr Eatts is the
president of the Manjimup Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is also the
chairman of the WA Water Users Coalition. I understand
that Mr Eatts attended both of the online briefings. For him to then say
that there was no consultation is a little curious. I am sorry that he feels
that he was not consulted, but he clearly was, and there was extensive
consultation. This is about the spring exemptions that I referred to, and the
guidelines have now been released.
I reiterate that I am prepared to
go down to the community. The member for Warren–Blackwood has invited
me to go there and I have committed to her
that I will go. We have talked about the water bill previously in the chamber .
It is a very complex piece of drafting because it brings together six pieces of
existing legislation, some of which are over a hundred years old.
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
Ms
S.F. McGURK : At least two ministers on the member for Roe's
side of the chamber committed to that legislation but were not able to
deliver on it.
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : It is
actually quite difficult to answer the question when you yell at me, member.
We have consulted that community, we
will continue to consult with that community, and I hope to do so again in the
future.
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